3.5, rounded up. I enjoyed this retelling of The Great Gatsby! The drama hooked me: affairs, secrets, wealth, and parties; the mystery kept me coming back for more. The only thing I didn’t like was the podcast element. It seemed odd and disjointed from the story. Despite that, this will be a great summer read! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I hadn’t known that it was a modern take on The Great Gatsby, especially since it wasn’t until the end of the book in the Author’s Note that she explained it was not a retelling of Gatsby, just inspired by it. Thinking it was a full retelling had me a bit distracted from the plot and thinking that I knew how the story was going to end.

However, I enjoyed the backstories given on a lot of the reimagined characters. I thought it gave more depth and understanding to the actions and motives of everyone involved.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins Publishing for an advanced reader’s copy.

I want to go to Block Island! The imagery and scene-setting crafted by the author are effective and engaging. The descriptions create a clear sense of place, and I appreciated the steady pace of the story, which kept my interest throughout. Additionally, the twist at the end was a nice surprise that added depth to the plot and made me wish I'd seen it coming sooner. Overall, the book was an easy binge-read and left me wanting more from Meg Mitchell Moore.

Captivating storytelling, nuanced characters, plenty of relationship drama—all set against an idyllic backdrop.
I am a longtime MMM fan, but think this might be my favorite of hers yet!

With thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow Books for this e-ARC!

Mansion Beach by Meg Mitchell Moore

3.75 / 4 Stars Rounded Up ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If Queen Elin Hildebrand says read it, I read it 🫡 Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher and the author for the ARC!

I was super excited to read this one—
✔️stunning coastal setting
✔️modernized Gatsby take
✔️secrets grave enough to ruin reputations
✔️class disparities

I’m not sure if it’s because I’m watching it right now but in a way this book gave White Lotus vibes? And I loved it. The book revolves around the people of Block Island—their drama, their love lives, their work, etc—and all the while we know someone ends up dead. By the end of the book all the secrets are on the table and the mystery death is revealed.

I had so much fun getting to know all of these characters and watching how their summers evolved. The author does an incredible job at capturing each of their stories and making you understand them on a personal level. All of the Great Gatsby references were an unexpected surprise too that I really enjoyed. One small gripe I had were two of the main characters names—Juliana and Nicola—I honestly got the two confused so much in the beginning because of their names both ending in -a. Probably just a me thing but with a lot of characters thrust on you at once it would’ve made it easier to distinguish had it been different. I wish the ending was a bit more dramatic to match the characters but overall I’d definitely recommend. This is a great beach read to add to your list if you’re a fan of coastal settings with rich people and even richer drama.

A slow burn romance with a thread of mystery. Interesting characters, although I don’t know how much the townspeople mini-chapters add to the book. I could do without them. That said, I really enjoyed the writing and felt invested in the storyline throughout- loved the little biological parent ? at the end. Overall, the setting of Block Island in the summer adds to the summer reading appeal.

Meg Mitchell Moore's Mansion Beach returns us to Block Island. If you've reads her previous books set here you will recognize the Island and some characters. However, this is a standalone book. Nicola an attorney by training needs a new career. Law was not for her but the ocean and the environment are her passion. Her cousin David has married into money and just happens to have a cottage she can use on Block Island. She enters into a world new money and old money and often wonders if any of them know what they are doing. Next door is Julianne a soon to be very wealthy entrepreneur after her IPO and across the pond is her cousin David and his wife. All become entangled.

Mansion Beach is a great summer beach read. Light enough to read on the beach yet enough depth to make you think. .

This has so many plot elements of a juicy summer read: romance, mysterious death, rich people behaving badly! The Great Gatsby allusions throughout this book were fun and fit the overall plot and vibe of the novel. I also enjoyed that the story is told from multiple perspectives along with the podcast transcripts interspersed. Would recommend!

Set during the summer on Block Island, Rhode Island, Mansion Beach offers a Gatsby-esque experience. While the plot differs in key ways, it explores similar themes of old money versus new money, carelessness, love affairs, extravagant parties, and "foolish girls."

When I got approved to read it on NetGalley, I couldn't wait to dive in, especially because Elin Hilderbrand wrote about how amazing this book is on her instagram story the other day. Unfortunately, that's where my enthusiasm pretty much ended. The novel was fine—just fine. As someone who isn't particularly fond of The Great Gatsby, perhaps I should have managed my expectations. Like Gatsby, many of the characters were hard to like, and while their backstories (unfolded slowly for dramatic effect) added some depth, I was mostly left thinking, "So what?"
I’d recommend this to fans of The Great Gatsby or anyone looking for a slow-burn summer read. But I was left feeling meh about it.

Meg Mitchell Moore's "Mansion Beach" offers an engrossing warm-weather narrative situated on Block Island. The story centers on Nicola, a one-time legal professional now engaged in marine research; Juliana, a successful technology executive with a complex romantic history; and Taylor, a privileged real estate successor dealing with significant development pressures. As their paths converge, long-buried truths and current desires clash, culminating in a perplexing aquatic death. Recounted from various characters' perspectives and through a local audio program, the book adeptly harmonizes intricate character development, vivid location depiction, and rising tension. An ideal selection for those who enjoy seasonal dramas with an unexpected twist!

Enjoyable genre mashup - romance and mystery and rich people being careless. Contemporary Gatsby retelling set on Block Island with genders switched that largely succeeds.

I love The Great Gatsby, so I was really excited about this book. It has a lot of the same storyline, but by changing genders, setting it in modern times, and making even the villains a little more likable, this is a great adaption that every literature fan will love. I love the idea of giving this to college students or older high school students to compare with Gatsby.

I really liked this book - it would be the perfect summer beach read. It reminded me of reading an Elon Hildebrand novel, but instead of Nantucket it’s about Block Island!

Readers of Pineapple Street and Bad Summer People will love Mansion Beach. Set on Block Island, RI, Mansion Beach follows people summering and working on the island. A mix of old money, new money, and no money, everyone's summer story becomes intertwined. Some congenial relationships are formed, and some are not so congenial. The summer tension and heat rise in tandem together in this book and come to an apex when a dead body is discovered. Mansion Beach was a great summer escapist novel to dive into while on vacation!

Meg Mitchell Moore adds this gem to her collection of excellent summer reads- check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

My first time reading Meg Mitchell Moore! I definitely plan on reading more books from her now. I completely see why Elin Hilderbrand was raving about this book on her Instagram story. The style of writing, plot, and setting are reminiscent of Elin but in a fresh/fun way. I really enjoyed the pacing of this and the mystery at the center. I loved the podcast blurbs mixed in throughout and the different character POVs. This is a perfect spring or summer beach read! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC. I now have immediate plans to make a mudslide cocktail.

Mansion Beach tells the story of Nicola Carr who moves to Block Island after breaking up with her live in boyfriend and quitting her job as a lawyer in the city to find herself.

Along the way she meets a mysterious "Girl Boss" Juliana George who is her neighbor throwing parties late into the night. The novel tells the story of their connection as well as the connections between others on the island including Nicola's cousin. Nothing is as it appears to be. There are definitely quite a few similarities to Great Gatsby as has been pointed out by many other readers.

Overall I enjoyed the novel, I found that the characters were interesting and had good motives for their actions. I liked the setting being on an island that I was not familiar with but clearly the author was. I did think there was quite a bit going on with all of the characters. Possibly a few too many plot points that I don't think fully lined up in the end as necessary for the plot of the book.

This was a solid read. I think that a lot could be cut out so because a lot of what was being said was dragging out. Since it is a little bit of rich people drama, I wish it was messier and straightforward. The author kept going on and on about unnecessary things that had nothing to do with the story but I guess it was means to boost the characters.

Set in the summer on Block Island, Rhode Island, Mansion Beach is a Gatsby-like novel. While the major plot points are different, the same themes of old money versus new money, carelessness, love affairs, over the top parties, and "foolish girls" are all present.

I'd read another novel by Meg Mitchell Moore (which I loved), and I was intrigued by the description of this book. So when I was approved to read on NetGalley, I could not wait to get into it. And that's as far as my enthusiasm went. This one was ok. But really just ok. I'm not the biggest fan of The Great Gatsby, so maybe I should have tempered my expectations a bit. Much like Gatsby, most of the characters were not likeable, and while their back stories (which were dragged out slowly for plot points) redeemed most of them somewhat, I was left mostly thinking "so what?"

I'd recommend this one to a Gatsby enthusiast and/or someone looking for a slow burn summer read.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC! Mansion Beach is out May 27, 2025.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book. Though I liked the plot and the characters I think this book is lacking a lot of foundation to being a quality novel. The “podcast” portion of this book serves no purpose to the story., it doesn’t lead up into anything pertinent, it doesn’t discuss any aspect of the story that matters or isn’t touched on with the characters and it doesn’t even make sense with the timeline when it shows up or not. I also understand that this hasn’t gone through editing but it desperately needs to be edited. There’s too many times when a characters “thoughts” get lost in the paragraph. I also just don’t think it’s set up well. We know someone washes up on the beach and Shelly is a great character to do that to with all the drops about her alcoholism but why are we supposed to care about her? Also there should be more red herrings of Juliana or Taylor being the washed up body. And the Jack “reveal” doesn’t do much for the story because Nicola is over Jack, maybe if he was still leading her on or trying to make something work it would matter. It’s just a very jumble of some good plot points but it wasn’t executed well, in my opinion. I think if this goes through a deep edit it could be a really fun summer thriller